How can you incorporate smart boards in your K-12 lesson plans?

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Education technology teacher Matt Miller loves using interactive panels for station rotation or centers. &#;Students have a variety of tasks they do all around the room, and they rotate from station to station,&#; said Miller in a Q&A with Samsung. Students can draw on the whiteboard or use the built-in web browser to pull up an interactive map or educational app. &#;Whenever students get to lay hands on these devices, they can create. Anything that takes learning out of the hands of the teacher and puts it into the hands of the students are some of the best opportunities you get.&#;

That&#;s just one example of how teachers can utilize interactive whiteboards. The technology, which is becoming more widely adopted in schools across the country, has also been proven to help students stay engaged with their schoolwork.

Student engagement is a significant problem in today&#;s classrooms. According to a report from Gradient Learning, 80% of teachers say they are concerned about their students&#; engagement in classroom-based learning.

That&#;s why technology tools that help teachers capture and keep students&#; attention can be invaluable. A study by ZipDo found that 92% of teachers believe technology positively affects student engagement, while 75% of educators think technology has a positive impact on the education process.

Smart boards &#; also called interactive whiteboards or panels &#; improve the learning experience while making teachers&#; lives better. They allow teachers and students to learn collaboratively, share files, access online resources and use educational software.

Here are four of the top uses for smart boards in teaching and learning, and how they can benefit every student.

1. Boost student engagement

Today&#;s K-12 students are digital natives, and they learn better because of it.

With smart boards, like Samsung&#;s WAD Interactive Display, teachers can create more dynamic lessons by writing or typing on screen, calling attention to certain topics with highlights, circles, arrows or zooming in, and sharing multimedia content such as videos, webpages, presentations and images. Plus, since the WAD Series is EDLA-certified, teachers can run Google tools such as Classroom, Slides, and Docs, and access the Google Play Store right from the interactive whiteboard. The smart board can even be divided into multiple sections so more than one student can work on it at once. The WAD supports up to 40 simultaneous touchpoints, allowing groups of students to write or draw at the same time. 

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2. Accommodate different learning styles

Whether a child is a visual learner, an auditory learner or a kinesthetic (hands-on) learner, an interactive whiteboard can benefit them. Visual learners can view the 4K UHD screen &#; such as the one on Samsung WAD Series displays &#; while auditory learners can listen to multimedia content, and hands-on learners can write on the board with a stylus, or even their finger. Educators can use the smart board for teaching small groups, organized by learning style, or one-on-one with individual students. 

3. Save, share and send lessons

When students are out sick, K-12 teachers typically spend time creating work packets for them to catch up. With a smart board, this process is easier since teachers can screenshot their lessons and instantly save and share them with students and colleagues as needed. Or, they can record the entire lesson with the recording feature. The content options are limitless: Teachers can save their notes so they can pick up where they left off, or they can create review materials for students to bring home to study and share those materials easily through apps like Google Classroom. This is especially beneficial for students who are trailing their peers, as they no longer have to take notes in real time while struggling to keep pace with the lesson. If they miss something, they can easily refer back to it on their own time.

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At the beginning of the day, smart board startup is easy &#; just turn it on, and go. And at the end of the day, teachers can turn off the board without needing to erase anything or take physical notes on what they covered.

4. Make the classroom work for everyone

Sometimes, there&#;s a need for remote learning. Smart boards make it easier for teachers to include remote students via videoconference technology. There&#;s no need to set up any special cameras. Students at home can see everything the teacher is doing and interact with their peers, too. This not only enables hybrid learning but encourages it. 

Given all the ways interactive smart boards enhance the learning experience, school districts that invest in smart boards are investing in their students.

You can find the right classroom display for your students&#; needs &#; and for your budget &#; by exploring Samsung&#;s full lineup of versatile interactive displays. And discover how simple, scalable and secure display solutions can empower educators to take control of the curriculum in this free guide.

How does the interactive whiteboard work?

The interactive whiteboard functions as an input device for your computer, enabling you to work in any application on the connected computer. You need two additional components to use the interactive whiteboard: a computer and a digital projector. These components work together as follows:

• Your computer runs an application and sends the image to the projector.

• The projector casts the image onto the interactive whiteboard.

• The interactive whiteboard detects contact with its screen and sends each contact point to the connected computer.

If your interactive whiteboard includes a pen tray with control and tool selection buttons, use the pen tray buttons to select different tools. For example, when you press the left-click button, the interactive whiteboard interprets the touch of your finger as a mouse click and you can control the computer from the interactive whiteboard. When you pick up a pen and press one of the color buttons, digital ink appears, enabling you to write over the desktop or any open application.

When you install SMART Learning Suite, you can access all the features of the interactive whiteboard. SMART Learning Suite includes SMART Notebook collaborative learning software, SMART Ink and SMART Product Drivers.

With SMART Ink, a dynamic (floating) toolbar appears on the desktop. You can use this toolbar to change the pen&#;s color, thickness or other properties temporarily, or use some of SMART Ink&#;s tools such as screen capture, spotlight, screen shade, and so on. For more information, see Using SMART Ink.

You can download SMART software from smarttech.com/software. These web pages list the minimum hardware requirements for each software version. If SMART software is already installed on your computer, take this opportunity to upgrade the software to ensure compatibility.

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